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Human nature is funny that way....

By
Real Estate Agent with Century 21 Redwood DC-SP98366576

Human nature is fascinating. Facts are often discarded when emotions come into play. The value placed on something to be sold by a company or corporation is based on a cost of sales and projected profit. If the item remains unsold, the price is cut drastically to move the inventory and the funds are used for new products.

It doesn't work that way for the working man.

Each of us comes to the table with a unique perspective on everything and when we have to set prices, we factor in our experience and our attachment to the product when determining a price. We do the same thing when we are purchasing items.

Case in point...............

  This little item is the "Princess Di" beanie baby. It was released in 1997. For the uninformed, beanie babies are these cute little collectible dolls produced by Ty, Inc.  They were selling for about $1.99 each. Ty was very smart. They limited the number of dolls released and the demand for them soon reached a fever pitch. Those with connections (a Ty account) found themselves in a windfall position. The harder to collect dolls began reaching a price of $25 each. The cost to dealers remained the same.

Then they announced the "Princess Di". The price remained the same but the value went through the roof. People were paying $1,000 each for the dolls. The came in bags of 25. Shipments were "lost". Still, most made it to the dealers and they all sold. Do the easy math...$25,000 for a bag that cost $28.00. Sweet.

Ten years later, these "Princess Di" collectibles are now selling for $30 each.

The emotional value has long since disapated. Those that bought them, now own a piece of mass marketing history at 3% of their original cost. Like I said, human nature is fascinating.

It seems to be the same way with homes. People buy a home and the "market value" goes up 20% in their area. They don't sell. The market begins to level off. They don't sell. Prices come down and they see a home they like that is now priced 15% below where it was two years ago. It is a bargin.

They refuse to accept that their home has dropped the same 15%. They fail to see that pricing for homes is really very relative to the market where they live. Home prices pretty much go up and down in unison. Sure, that is a generalization, but it is the rule rather than the exception.

Human nature......captive of the eye of the beholder.     Human nature is funny that way.

Comments(6)

Lenn Harley
Lenn Harley, Homefinders.com, MD & VA Homes and Real Estate - Leesburg, VA
Real Estate Broker - Virginia & Maryland

Very timely John. 

About 3 mintues I finished a telephone call from a builder in my area who called to inform me that they had just added another $50,000 to their existing $75,000 incentives.  These homes price out at about 4850,000 to $1,300,000.  Even so, $125,000 is a significant incentive. 

When was the last time you heard a seller say, drop my home by 10-15% so it will sell?

Now I've got to get busy and post some blogs about the new incentive for that builder. 

 

Feb 04, 2008 09:38 AM
John MacArthur
Century 21 Redwood - Washington, DC
Licensed Maryland/DC Realtor, Metro DC Homes
Lenn - If they redo "Field of dreams" will the voice say "lower the price and they will come"? I will look forward to your post.
Feb 04, 2008 10:18 AM
Simon Conway
Orlando Area Real Estate Services - Orlando, FL
We have a builder here who has just chopped $125,000 off of $400,000 condos. A remarkable deal in anyone's terms - and in the place this is happening, the values will come back.
Feb 04, 2008 01:41 PM
Kathy McGraw
CELLing Realty - White Water, CA
Riverside County CA Real Estate
John-Well, I too think this is timely for me.  Yesterday I was cleaning the Attic and found a whole Box of Beanies that I had bought overseas.....for my Granddaughter.  The Princess Di was one of the Bears in the Collection.....anyway we had that conversation of how they were quite valuable then, but now they are only valuable, to me,  for their memory but not for their price. Unfortunately my experience sure wouldn't work for Real Estate :) Real Estate we cannot sell on how emotionally attached we are :)
Feb 04, 2008 01:48 PM
"The Lovely Wife" The One And Only TLW.
President-Tutas Towne Realty, Inc. - Kissimmee, FL

John...

I have always been and will always be fascinated by human nature.

We really are a weird species...

Especially when it comes to things like Beanie and Barbie Dolls :)

TLW...ROAR!

Feb 08, 2008 09:25 AM
Deb Brooks
Brooks Prime Properties Wichita Falls Texas - Wichita Falls, TX

Well John,

You express your point very well. I don't know how this would go over with a client but the story could

morph a little! $1,000.00 for a purple bear named Diana huh? I'm glad I didn't get caught up in that

fever! Thank you for such an interesting article. Later in the rain, Deb

Feb 14, 2008 03:16 PM